Honourable
by Andrithir
Summary: "This is the life we choose, this is the life we lead, there is only one guarantee, we give everything so that others may life in blissful ignorance." - Operative Anthony "Arca" Zhuge


**40 Years after UNSC ascension to Tier 1.**

**UNSC **_**HONOURABLE**_**, UNKNOWN LOCATION, UPPER ATMOSPHERE**

Above an idyllic planet, a jagged blue line tore through the fabric of space. It was a slipstream space rupture. Hundreds if not thousands of pieces debris rained out from the tear, engulfed by flame.

The stealth ship tore through the sky at incredible speeds; plasma trailed in its wake, like a fiery tail. Its shield's flared, bearing the brunt of the horrendous heat.

Within the Command Bridge of the sleek black ship, was a small crew, fighting a losing battle to maintain the ship's descent.

"Stabilising!" Lotus gritted, his hands moved quickly along the console, redirecting coolant to the reactor core.

"Main engines fried," Greystone breathed, "rerouting power to thursters and shields."

"Even us out," Arca ordered.

"We're coming in to fast," Commander 117 stated, "engage the upper air brakes and emergency thursters, that should cut down our speed."

"Copy Chief."

The Predator-class ship began to pan out as it entered the lower atmosphere. Steadily, the sky shifted from black to blue.

"The fuck did those Innies set off?" Lotus muttered, "we're still coming in too fast."

"Tracking descent," said Greystone, "we'll hit the ocean."

Even with the reverse systems operating at full capacity, _Honourable_ still roared through the sky. Travelling at such a high velocity, the air had been accelerated past the threshold and became plasma.

"Bring the nose up," the Chief ordered, "maybe we can use our speed to glide us down."

"Without our main engines, we can't do much," Greystone said.

"Then increase power to the gravity repulsors, we can dampen our landing."

"Copy that," the Operative agreed. Entering a few quick commands, he rerouted all non-essential power to the repulsors with the hopes that they'll be the shock absorbers on impact. "Let's hope this girl holds together."

_Honourable_ skimmed over the ocean; leave a plume of steam trailing behind her. Slowly but surely, it was getting closer the surface.

"Repulsors at full capacity," Greystone notified. The monitor began blinking as the reuplsors parted the water aside.

"Shield's holding at eighty per cent," Arca said, "let's hope the boffins pull through for us."

The team took up bracing positions and prepared for the impact. _Honourable_, screamed as it skirted the water, plumes of steam and plasma followed the ship as it dipped into the ocean. Alarms began to blare as systems began to fail. Ripping through the water at such high speeds, the airbrakes on the bottom of the ship snapped back.

"Bottom shields are gone," Arca gritted, "underside airbrakes have failed, retracting them in."

"We're moving into a storm," Lotus said worriedly.

Waves and raindrops splashed upon the ship and boiled away as it touched the heated hull.

"Speed is moving into acceptable range, hull is cooling down," Lotus breathed.

"We've got landmass coming up ahead," Greystone said, "thrusters are at full capacity."

_Honourable_ eventually came to a halt as the braking systems gained more ground. She rocked back and forth, as the waves and winds bashed against her hull. The storm was picking up.

"We've got no leaks, we'll float," Greystone assured, "but until the main engines get back online, we're pretty much dead in the water."

"Do we know where we are?" the Chief asked.

"No," Arca shook his head, running a hand through his brownish-black hair. "Whatever planet we're on, it's not UNSC. There's no satellite system we can link up to, and in this weather, the UAVs won't get far."

"Looks like we're stuck here for a while," Lotus added.

**XXxxXX**

**USS **_**FLAGG**_**, PACIFIC OCEAN**

Consoles were going haywire, alarms were blaring. Deep amongst a night sky, shone a light, so bright and blue. It was a phenomenon never before seen. To Scarlett, she found it to be unnerving.

"Tracking debris," said a console operator.

"Debris?" General Hawk asked.

"Yes sir, could be anything."

"Such as?"

"Anything, our orbital satellites have gone offline. We're using ground gear, sir."

The console began to flash wildly, the operator frowned. "Sir, we've got something big coming up on the radar."

"What is it?"

"Unknown, bringing it up on screen."

The radar readings were brought up onto the main projector, allowing everyone in the control hub to see.

"That's over one-hundred-and-seventy metres long," Scarlett said.

"Are those readings correct, Ensign Williams?"

"I can't say for sure, sir. This phenomena is interfering with our equipment."

Hawk paused, and mulled over a choice. "Prepare the teams ready, Williams, track its descent."

"Yes sir," the young man said, "estimated collision is five-hundred nautical miles North one degree west."

"Let's see if this thing is real," the General sad to his top operative, "because if it is, Cobra's going to want it."

"Yes sir," Scarlett complied.

**XXxxXX**

**A/N: Tis short, I know. Just testing the water though. So, please review. To those wondering about Contingency, well this is its replacement.**

**Content seen here has been heavily borrowed from Lost Legacy.**


End file.
